(BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist scheme)

Franck: Sonata in A major (excerpt)

(BBC New Generation Artist scheme)

About

Narek Hakhnazaryan

Cello

Since winning the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 at the age of 22, Narek Hakhnazaryan has performed with most major orchestras and in recital across the globe and has established himself internationally as one of the finest cellists of his generation. From 2014-2016 he joined the prestigious BBC New Generation Artists scheme during which time he made a hugely successful BBC Proms debut, with the Guardian commenting on his “technically impeccable and distinctively personal account” of Haydn’s First Concerto. Of his LAPO debut in 2012, the LA Times said “His command of the instrument is extraordinary”, The Strad has described him as “dazzlingly brilliant” and the San Francisco Chronicle “nothing short of magnificent."

Hakhnazaryan has performed with orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio, Berlin Konzerthaus, Chicago Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, NHK Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic orchestras, and with conductors such as Gergiev, Hrusa, Koopman, Metzmacher, Pletnev, Slatkin, Sokhiev, Robertson, Bringuier. He has toured Spain with the WDR Symphony/Saraste, the US with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra/Neemi Järvi and Japan with the Czech Philharmonic/Bělohlávek.

In 17/18, highlights of Hakhnazaryan’s season include his debut with the Baltimore Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, St Louis Symphony, Stavanger Symphony, Orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali (Milan) and Belgrade Philharmonic orchestras, returns to the RTE National Symphony Orchestra and a tour of the US with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra. He will be Artist-in-Residence of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and will perform at the Vienna Konzerthaus several times throughout the season as one of their Great Talents, both in chamber concerts and in recital. Joining forces with Zuo Zhang and Esther Yoo to form the Z.E.N. Trio, , Hakhnazaryan tours the UK and SE Asia, performing across China and Hong Kong to mark the release of their first recording on Deutsche Grammophon. In recital he returns to London’s Wigmore Hall and will perform in most of the major cities across North America, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto.

Mentored by the late Rostropovich, Hakhnazaryan received an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2011 where he studied with Lawrence Lesser. Prior to this he studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Alexey Seleznyov and at the Sayat-Nova School of Music in Yerevan with Zareh Sarkisyan. Hakhnazaryan has received scholarships from the Rostropovich Foundation and the New Names Foundation, and his prizes include First Prize in the 2006 Aram Khachaturian International Competition in Armenia and First Place in the 2006 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players. As First Prize winner in the 2008 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Hakhnazaryan made his debut in Washington, DC and at Carnegie Hall.

Narek Hakhnazaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians: his father is a violinist, his mother a pianist, and he performs regularly with his brother, the conductor Tigran Akhnazarian. In September 2017 he was awarded the title of “Honored Artist of Armenia” by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Hakhnazaryan plays the 1707 Joseph Guarneri cello and F.X. Tourte and Benoit Rolland bows.

His playing was like a perfectly honed signature, every flourish and curl executed with elegant ease.

Times

Narek Hakhnazaryan displayed his outstanding musicianship with a technically impeccable and distinctive account of Haydn’s First Cello Concerto

Guardian

Armenian-born Hakhnazaryan is the real deal. His articulation was clear even in the score’s wildest dashing and darting … he maintained tonal purity in the many soft, high notes that give so much character to the work.